Snatched
by yeaka
Summary: Ryou's kidnapped. Discontinued.


Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any of its contents, and I'm not making any money off this.

Warnings: Shonen-ai, uselessness.

A/N: This is a redrabbled version of the extremely old story, 'Snatched,' which I already tried to rewrite once. I only redrabbled the first chapter and just removed the rest, because this is really too terrible to exist. Proceed with caution.

* * *

Ryou flinches as he's jostled aside, a particularly large man barreling into him without the courtesy to apologize. Ryou's knocked into another person, who curses at him and pushes him aside. It takes a second for Ryou to recover and start walking again, legs even shakier than before.

He _hates_ Christmas.

It isn't just that it's cold, or that the ground is absolutely drenched in snow, or that the wind is whipping his jacket up unhelpfully. It's that there's just so many people out – the crowds are bustling with an angry sort of vigor, and it makes Ryou feel conversely alone and distinctly out of place. He isn't on a mission like they are – he doesn't have anyone to buy gifts for. He can't match the glowing grins that are thrown from place to place – he feels awful, and it probably shows all over his face. He's trudging throw the snow as far away from everyone as he can get, even if his scratched knees make him go too slowly.

He can't go home. His house isn't really a _home_ anymore, and he's left the millennium puzzle on his dresser. As soon as he comes through the door he'll have to explain to his yami why he was out, for apparently no reason, right when the sun is starting to set. There won't be any point in explaining to his other how crushing it is to be beaten around Christmas – it'd just earn him more pain. Instead he's irrationally avoiding the inevitable, wondering idly how far he can get before his nerves crumble.

In his head, he's just going to keep walking. Eventually he'll topple over of exhaustion, and maybe freeze to death, buried in the snow. But he knows he's a coward, and that won't happen. He's enormously glad when the buildings start to thin out – if he collapses in front of people someone will just call an ambulance. Then his friends might even come to see him – if they are even friends – and Ryou will have to explain the bruises and cuts littering his small body. They wouldn't _understand_, and Ryou couldn't look Yugi in the eye. Yugi could never understand. His yami adores him, and they're probably together right now, smiling and laughing and maybe drinking eggnog...

Ryou feels like he's going to be sick. He's passed most of the buildings. He feels like he's passed the sidewalk, but the ground's so covered in snow that it's hard to tell. His white hair is whipped up all around him, vision completely blurred. He moves doggedly forward like a zombie, even though it hurts to breathe. His skin is prickling all over, and it feels like his bones are full of needles. There's a large bruise on his abdomen that bothers him every time his jacket brushes it. He isn't dressed warm enough to be outside.

He sincerely hopes he freezes to death. He doesn't know how long he's been walking, but it feels like hours, and he thinks he might be getting close.

So he's almost upset when he hears a car coming up the road. He can't help but glance over his shoulder – it's actually a sleek, black limousine. It cuts through the snow and the headlights momentarily blind Ryou; he looks away. When he looks back it's slowing; it stops in front of him. Ryou's face scrunches up – he isn't holding out his hand to hitchhike.

Ryou's frown only increases, when Seto Kaiba steps out of it. Why Seto Kaiba would stop for him, Ryou has no idea. He's half-sure he's hallucinating. The cold's getting to him. Seto walks up to him, looking magnificently unaffected by the pelting snow. Maybe he's too inhuman to feel it, Ryou jokes to himself. Seto looks at him like he's crazy, which is probably appropriate.

Then Seto bluntly greets, "Bakura," followed by, "what the hell are you doing out here?"

Ryou doesn't have a good explanation and isn't sure why Seto would care. He opens his mouth to offer something, anyway, but shuts it again after a minute. The fact that Seto even knows his name is mildly astounding.

Then Ryou sneezes. He turns into his elbow in time, but he still expects to see disgust on Seto's face. Instead Seto says levelly, "Do you want a ride?"

Ryou's eyes go very big. He wasn't at all expecting _that._

If he were one hundred percent honest with himself, he would very much like a ride. The limousine looks warm and inviting – it's probably well lined, and soft, and heated. ...But if his yami ever found out (which he somehow would – he finds out everything) he'd beat Ryou senseless. Ryou isn't even allowed to talk to Yugi too much in school, let alone get into strange cars with classmates. Intimacy with others, even in the loosest sense, isn't a privilege Ryou has.

So he mumbles as politely as possible, "No, thank you. ...But, um... thanks for the offer." And then he takes a step back, because he's awkward like that, and he nearly trips on a particularly large glob of snow. Seto lunges out to grab him just in time, pulling him straight and steadying him. Ryou freezes in every sense; Seto's cobalt eyes are watching him firmly.

Then Seto repeats, "I think you should get in the car."

Eyebrows knitting together, Ryou murmurs, "...No, thank you."

"Bakura, get in the car."

Ryou shakes his head, and this time he looks around before taking another step back. "Ah, that's alright, I'll just... I'll just walk back..."

Seto grabs his arm again, jerking him harshly towards the limousine. Ryou tries to double back, but Seto's grip is stronger, and he's tugged off the side and onto the road before he can stop it. "Please let go!"

But Seto shoves him around into the open door, and Ryou topples backwards onto the crimson seating. As he scrambles to sit up, Seto tells him very sternly, "...I was hoping you'd come willingly, but... there's more than one way to skin a cat."

Ryou's mouth falls open.

Seto dons a little smirk, adding, "...Just in case there was any confusion, you're the cat."

Then he slams the door shut.


End file.
